1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a protector for a loudspeaker cone.
2. Related Art
Loudspeaker cones are relatively fragile and easily damaged. A paper loudspeaker cone can be torn, punctured or creased by a single contact with a person""s fingers or other object. Once a loudspeaker has been installed in a cabinet or other enclosure, it will be protected by its surrounds, including a mesh or grille through which sound is emitted by the loudspeaker.
In order to prevent accidental damage to loudspeakers between the point of manufacture and installation in an enclosure, it is known to provide a rigid moulded plastic grille that is permanently affixed to a frame surrounding the cone. This is an effective form of protection. Such rigid grilles have also been used to electrically insulate a metal loudspeaker frame from metal mounting screws passingthrough the frame. Disadvantages of such a rigid protective grille are that this is relatively expensive to manufacture, even in high volume, and the grille itself inevitably reflects and absorbs some of the sound emitted by the loudspeaker.
It is an object of the present invention to address the problems cited above, and provide a protector for a loudspeaker cone when addresses these issues.
Accordingly, the invention provides a loudspeaker protector, comprising: a sheet of flexible material, the sheet being bounded by an edge; one or more mounting points on the sheet, each mounting point being adapted to receive a fixing member through the sheet and being positioned in a peripheral region of the sheet; and one or more lines of weakness in the sheet, the sheet being thereby adapted to tear or break preferentially along the lines of weakness; in which the lines of weakness separate the peripheral region at each mounting point from a central area of the sheet, so that the central area of the sheet may be torn from the peripheral region(s) after the or each mounting point has been held down by said fixing member(s).
Also according to the invention, there is provided a loudspeaker, comprising a frame, one or more mounting features by which the loudspeaker may be secured to an external object, a loudspeaker cone, and a loudspeaker protector, in which the cone is supported peripherally by the frame, the mounting features are provided on the frame beyond the periphery of the cone, the loudspeaker protector is affixed to the frame to protect the cone supported within the frame, and the loudspeaker protector has one or more mounting points in alignment with the mounting features of the frame, wherein the loudspeaker protector comprises: a sheet of flexible material, the sheet being bounded by an edge; one or more mounting points on the sheet, each mounting point being adapted to receive a fixing member through the sheet and being positioned in a peripheral region of the sheet; one or more lines weakness in the sheet, the sheet being whereby adapted to tear or break preferentially along the lines of weakness; in which the lines of weakness separate the peripheral region at each mounting point from a central area of the sheet, so that the central area of the sheet may be torn from the peripheral region(s) after the or each mounting point has been held down by said fixing member(s).
The mounting point in the loudspeaker protector is preferably an aperture, slit, dimple or other such feature formed or cut in the sheet material. If the mounting point is a hole through the sheet, then the sheet may include a sleeve that extends transversely away from the sheet around said hole.
Often, the loudspeaker frame will be a metallic frame. The mounting features of the frame can then be formed in the metal of the frame. The mounting points of the loudspeaker protector may then serve to insulate electrically the frame from the fixing members. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, each of the mounting features is an aperture in the frame, and the loudspeaker protector has a sleeve that extends into the aperture to insulate electrically the frame from the fixing member, which may be a metallic screw, bolt, press-fit stud or rivet.
The invention also provides a method of installing a loudspeaker in an enclosure using at least one fixing member, when the loudspeaker is according to the invention, wherein the method comprises the steps of:
a) placing the loudspeaker in the enclosure;
b) using the fixing member(s) to secure the loudspeaker within the enclosure; and then
c) pulling the loudspeaker protector from the loudspeaker to tear the loudspeaker protector along the lines of weakness in order to remove the central portion of the loudspeaker protector from the loudspeaker, while leaving the loudspeaker protector mounting points held to the loudspeaker at the fixing member(s).